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The party platform at one time was designed to lay a foundation for the policy changes a

party would attempt to pass once they gained power. Today in the modern world of campaigns

and candidate centered politics the platform of a party exists to highlight what the party believes,

and excite their base on particular issues. Parties today no longer run campaigns for their

presidential candidates, in fact, today parties are used by the presidential candidate to fundraise,

run advertisements, and coordinate efforts. Much like the current usage of the parties in an

electoral sense, platforms are not used by candidates as a guiding document for policy positions,

but rather platforms often highlight the key messages of a parties respective presidential

candidate. This is evidenced by the messaging of the 2008 Democratic party platform that states

in it’s preamble, “The time for change has come, and America must seize it” (Democratic

National Committee 7). This statement nearly replicates the messaging of the Obama for

America campaign. With the emergence candidate centered campaigns and the decline of party

influence, the party platform has become a prime messaging tool for the party to promote their

presidential candidate.

In 2008 the Barack Obama campaign used the key messaging point’s of “change” and

“hope”. These two key points were used in most of the speeches by then Senator Obama. In his

speech to the Democratic National Convention Barack Obama said, “It's time for us to change

America. And that's why I'm running for president of the United States ” (“Democratic

Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address”). This messaging continued through the duration

of campaign, in a speech one week before the election Obama said, “In one week, at this defining

moment in history, you can give this country the change we need ” (“One Week to Go: Speech in

Ohio”). The communication goal of the Obama campaign was to paint the past eight years of
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policy under Republican control as a disaster and point out the need for change. The messaging

was not all negative, but mostly messaging that would strike emotion in the listeners. In Barack

Obama’s closing remarks in his convention address he tried to strike a mixture of positive and

negative emotion while reinforcing his argument for change by saying, “America, we cannot turn

back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many

veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with

so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn

back” (“Democratic Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address”). The goal of the Obama

campaign was to paint a negative picture of the past eight years and highlight the need for

change. On the Republican side Senator John McCain had to fight the message of change that

resinated with the American people with a very different message.

To combat the message of change by the Obama Campaign, the McCain camp decided to

play off the experience of their candidate. They drew this argument from the fact that John

McCain had been a long time military leader and senator. They also tied in the argument that

Senator McCain’s experience would help keep America safe. In his address to the Republican

National Convention he drew the message of experience and military leadership together, “I'm

running for president to keep the country I love safe and prevent other families from risking their

loved ones in war as my family has. I will draw on all my experience with the world and its

leaders, and all the tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, and the power of our

ideals -- to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace ” (“Republican Presidential

Nomination Acceptance Address”). This statement drew all the key messaging points of the

McCain campaign together in two sentences. McCain would later use these messaging points of
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leadership and experience in the wake of an economic crisis, “Senator Obama took a very

different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he

was "monitoring the situation." That's not leadership, that's watching from the

sidelines” (“Campaign Stop in Ohio”). This statement draws from his argument that he is more

experienced and has the leadership qualities needed, but uses it show that these qualities can help

America recover economically.

Looking at a third party candidate will help further examine the relationship between the

messaging of platforms and presidential candidates. The Constitution Party candidate for

President in 2008 was Chuck Baldwin. The messaging by the Baldwin campaign was not as

concise and pointed as the messaging among the major parties, but still featured a few key

points. In an address to the John Birch Society Mr Baldwin said, “When we lose our sovereignty

and independence, we will lose our freedom of religion " (Farmer). This statement sums up the

basic principle of the messaging of the Baldwin campaign; a call for freedom and a belief in

God. In an argument for second amendment rights Mr Baldwin draws biblical references to make

his point (Farmer). The Baldwin campaign tried to draw biblical messages into each of their

arguments to reinforce the message of a government that follows biblical principles.

After examining at the key messaging points of the major candidates it is evident that

their messaging can be broken down to a few points. The Obama campaign uses words like

“hope” and “change” to draw emotion to their message. They are able to use the word change to

attack the Republicans and point out Senator Obama’s plans for the future. McCain’s campaign

used leadership and experience to point out Senator McCain’s military experience and show that

Barack Obama was not ready to lead. These campaigns had many policy positions and other
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messaging points, but their key points guided every argument they made. These key messaging

points also helped guide what was written in some of these party platforms.

The platform of the Democratic party contains many policy positions they believe they

will move America forward. Though the platform has policy positions that Senator Obama might

not agree fully with, the messaging of this document had many of the key talking points used by

the Obama campaign. The preamble of the platform opens by stating, “We come together at a

defining moment in the history of our nation – the nation that led the 20th century, built a

thriving middle class, defeated fascism and communism, and provided bountiful opportunity to

many ” (Democratic National Committee 5). What makes this statement so important is it’s near

replication to the speeches Barack Obama made. In his Democratic convention speech Senator

Obama made nearly the exact same statement, “We meet at one of those defining moments - a

moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has

been threatened once more ” (“Democratic Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address”). The

Democratic Platform states, “The American people do not want government to solve all our

problems;” (Democratic National Committee 6). In the same convention speech Obama echoed

nearly the same statement, “Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our

problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves” (“Democratic

Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address”). The Democratic platform is in complete

alignment with the messaging of the Obama campaign. Many of the statements of the platform

match word for word with those of the Democratic candidate for President. The Republican party

platform does not replicate the exact messaging of their candidate as much as the Democratic

platform, but does reinforce similar messages.

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When examining the Republican platform it is clear that the messaging alignment that

existed with the Obama campaign and the Democratic platform does not exist in the Republican

platform. Examining the preamble of the GOP platform shows just how out of tune the party

platform is with their candidate. The preamble does not address any of the key points or

arguments made by the McCain campaign. Examining the preamble of the platform highlights

the Republican message, “We offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our

Republican ideals are those that unify our country: Courage in the face of foreign foes. An

optimistic patriotism, driven by a passion for freedom. Devotion to the inherent dignity and

rights of every person” (Republican National Committee i). Though this statement attempts to

strike at a similar message of the McCain campaign, “courage”, it does not link the party with

the candidate the way the Democratic platform does. The first issue the Republican platform

addresses is that of national security; the issue that John McCain is most experienced on and the

one he plays up on the campaign trail (Republican National Committee 1). When campaigning,

Senator McCain plays up his years of knowledge and experience on the issues of national

security. In a speech just days before the election took place, John McCain made a speech about

national security in which he questioned Barack Obama’s ability to lead on national security

issues, and also gave the impression he has the experience needed to lead, “But the question is

whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda,

and other grave threats in the world” (“McCain's National Security Remarks in Tampa”). The

argument that Barack Obama is not ready to lead a nation on the brink of a terrorist attack is a

very effective counter to Obama’s calls for change. Campaign and Elections wrote that John

McCain’s message should focus on national security, “McCain's task now is to keep the focus on
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national security” ("Winning the Message War"). With national security being the primary focus

of the McCain campaign, it is good to list national security first in the GOP platform, but the

platform does not use key phrases of “experience” and “leadership” to highlight their presidential

candidate in this section of the platform.

Looking beyond the two major parties helps to highlight the relationship between

presidential candidates and their parties platforms. The Constitution Parties core beliefs are

freedom and a country that follows a creator and natural law. The preamble of the platform reads,

“The sole purpose of government, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, is to secure our

unalienable rights given us by our Creator. When Government grows beyond this scope, it is

usurpation, and liberty is compromised” (Constitution Party Platform). This sums up what the

party believes in and fights for. Chuck Baldwin was the parties candidate for president in 2008;

in his campaign he echoed a similar message to that of having religion involved in government

when he said, “We just need to elect more Christians to public office" (Farmer). Though the

platform of the Constitution Party is smaller and less specific on issues than the other major

parties, they do state basic principles and their candidate for president echoes these same

principles. Much like the Republican party, the Constitution party does not integrate the rhetoric

of their candidates in the party platform. Though not integrating the messaging of the presidential

candidate is not a big of an issue for a third party because their candidates have little chance of

winning, and the campaigns of third party candidates are less candidate centered and more

centered on the third party the candidate is in.

After examining the platforms and the messaging they contain, one can see why the

Democratic parties candidate had a message advantage in 2008. The party integrated the key
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points of Barack Obama into their most important document, almost endorsing the candidate. By

doing this the Democratic party is able to promote their candidates message in their platform. In

contrast the Republican platform does not provide a ringing endorsement of John McCain. The

platform does list national security as the first issue, and uses somewhat similar words to those

used by McCain, but does not integrate his exact message. The issue with this is that the party is

using it’s own message rather than the message of their candidate. When this is done the

Republican party uses two messages; John McCain’s message and the Republican Parties

message. Though these messages are similar, they do not match. The Washington Post examines

the Republican platform and the stances of John McCain; they find that the platform and McCain

differ on multiple issues such as immigration and stem cell research ("WHOSE VIEWS?). This

sums up the problem with the GOP message, they fail to communicate a coherent coordinated

message from the party officials all the way down to the McCain campaign. Whereas the

Democrats use the exact messaging of the Obama campaign, and voters hear one unified

message from the Democrats and two from the Republicans and Constitution Party.

When CCN asked voters, “Which Candidate Quality Matters Most?” in their exit 2008

national exit poll poll, 34% of respondents said “Can Bring Change”, of those who said change

was most important 89% voted for Barack Obama and 9% voted for McCain. In the same survey

only 20% of the respondents said the “Experience” was most important, 93% of those who

thought experience was most important voted for McCain (“Presidential National Exit Poll”).

The message of “change” won out in this election, and the Obama campaign and the Democratic

party did a very good job of promoting this message.

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As parties have moved away from focus in the American electorate and the candidates

have taken center stage, the messaging of the parties and the candidates must be similar. Voters

who take in these message need to hear one message from the party and the candidate. In 2008

the Obama campaign was able to use two mediums to send their singular message, this resulted

in a message that was consistent and non confusing. According to a branding firm founder Brian

Collins, the Obama message was as consistent as those of large corporations, "Across towns,

counties, states -- and with thousands of volunteers, no less -- across multiple media platforms,

they've managed to drive a potent, single-minded design and messaging coherence that should

shame many national brands. I mean, this is close to a level of design strategy from a great brand

like Nike or Target" (Wheaton). The Obama’s campaigns ability to use a singular message

among their campaign and party platform was certainly a factor the effectiveness of their

message. Moving forward party platforms should take a look at what the Democrats did in 2008

and what the Constitution Party and Republican party did not do, use the messaging of their

candidate to write their platform.

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Works Cited

"Constitution Party National Platform." Constitution Party. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://
www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php>.

Democratic National Committee. Democratic National Convention Committee. Democratic

Platform: Renewing America's Promise. Denver: Democratic National Committee, 2008.
1-7. Print.

Farmer, Brian. "Chuck Baldwin Addresses John Birch Society." The New American. 7 Oct. 2008.
Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/408>.

McCain, John. "Campaign Stop in Ohio." Speech. Columbus. 29 Sept. 2008. Presidential
Rhetoric. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/
campaign2008/mccain/09.29.08.html>.

McCain, John. "McCain's National Security Remarks in Tampa." Speech. Tampa. 29 Oct. 2008.
Real Clear Politics. 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://
www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/mccains_national_security_rema.html>.

McCain, John. "Republican Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address." Speech. Republican

National Convention. St Paul. 4 Sept. 2008. Presidential Rhetoric. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/campaign2008/rnc2008/speeches/mccain.html>.

Obama, Barack. "Democratic Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address." Speech.

Democratic National Convention. Denver. 28 Aug. 2008. Presidential Rhetoric. Web.
12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/campaign2008/dnc2008/
speeches/obama.html>.

Obama, Barack. "One Week to Go: Speech in Ohio." Speech. One Week to Go: Speech in Ohio.
Canton. 27 Oct. 2008. Presidential Rhetoric. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://
www.presidentialrhetoric.com/campaign2008/obama/10.27.08.html>.

"President National Exit Poll." CNN. Election Center 2008, 4 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p6>.

Republican National Committee. Republican Platform Committee. 2008 Republican Platform.

Minneapolis: Republican National Committee, 2008. i-1. Print.

"WHOSE VIEWS? McCain, Platform Unlikely to Align." Washington Post. The Trail, 27 Aug.
2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/ 2008/08/26/AR2008082603832.html>.
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Wheaton, Ken. "Adaptable Team Stays on Message While Using Social Networking to Build
Voter Roles." Advertising Age. 17 Oct. 2008. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://
adage.com/article?article_id=131757>.

"Winning the Message War." Politics (Campaigns & Elections) 29.8 (2008): 30-35. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.